


A Glimpse into the Future- Kid's Worst Nightmare?

by PyroJuese



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Future, Future Character Death, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mortality, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:01:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25762558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PyroJuese/pseuds/PyroJuese
Summary: A select few meisters get the chance to see into the future. While they were supposed to see Arachniphbia's attack, Kid instead saw something different. Something horrifying. He doesn't see them pass, but he realizes how he'll outlive everybody he's ever known. It's a one-shot told through Kid's point of view as he lives with the after-effects of his vision.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	A Glimpse into the Future- Kid's Worst Nightmare?

"So, meisters," Dr. Stein said, "do you know what you're doing here?"

We were standing in a small, closed-off room that had a large window that looked out to one of the DWMA's many halls. Nothing was in the room, excluding me, the doctor, Maka, Black Star, Ox, Kilik, and Kimi. Stein called us all here out of nowhere, telling us not to bring our weapons with us, so Liz and Patty, along with others, are waiting outside.

Beside me, Black Star crossed his arms in annoyance. "No, you didn't tell us anything."

"Well, you're all here because of this." The professor lifted up a glass ball with a light purple gas in it. It looked like something a witch would make.

"What's that?" Maka asked.

"It's a special type of gas that is said to predict the near future. It's pretty hard to come by, but if we use it correctly, the DWMA could have a distinct advantage over Arachnophobia."

Ox nodded in understanding. "So, with that, we're going to see Arachnophobia's attack before it happens and plan a counter."

"Exactly." Stein placed the ball on the floor. "It seems to work best with children, and only by meisters. You six have to focus on Arachnophobia or the witch Arachnid while breathing the gas to focus the results. It works differently for each meister, but with all of your input, we should be able to paint some kind of picture. You ready?"

The six of us all gave some sort of affirmation.

"Good. After I close the door, one of you break the glass." Stein walked out and closed the door, as he said he would, prompting Black Star to pick up the glass ball and smash it on the floor. Purple gas flooded the small room we were in. I closed my eyes to help me focus on the organization that had been causing us trouble for some time now.

It only took a couple of breaths until I could see a world forming around me, despite the fact that I didn't open my eyes. Starting out as a red blur, my vision soon became clear enough to see what was happening. It was Death City in ruins, on fire, witches running rampant. "No," I couldn't help but say out loud. "This can't be the future." The more I breathed, the more real the broken city felt. I could actually move, so I headed towards the DWMA. Looking around, I saw the city I was raised in fall to shambles. It was a huge mess. I wanted to stand around and fix it, but who knows how long I have.

I pass by the disheveled remains of shops and stores long since abandoned, but some of them weren't right. A bookstore that I didn't recognize seemed to replace that sausage restaurant that Patty likes. Other places too. Perhaps, because it's the future, some places closed and got replaced, but it seemed like too much for it being a short time skip. I continued to ignore the differences, no matter how much they disturbed me. My focus was on the DWMA. I made it up the cracked stairs eventually and faced my father's school, but that looked different too. Not only was it now a crippled shell of what it used to be, but it had a slightly different architecture like it was upgraded. Once again, I ignore the urge to focus on the mess, on the asymmetry of it all, and enter.

Inside, I couldn't hear the city crumbling or the witches cackling anymore, only the sound of running echoing on the walls. It was my own running. Whether or not I had a physical presence in this world was questionable. I had bigger questions, like how could Arachnophobia accomplish all of this? What must have happened to Father for this to happen? Is there any way to stop this?

"Lord Death," a voice said, making me stop. I looked to the noise to see something that somehow made this nightmare of a vision even worse. Excalibur. I looked where he seemed to be looking, behind me, but Father wasn't there.

"Fool! I'm talking to you."

I look back at the holy sword. "Me?"

"Fool! Of course you. You're Lord Death the Kid, are you not?"

"I don't have time for this." I turned to run towards my dad's office again, but the sword kept taking.

"Wait, you came from the past! Don't you want to know what happened?" he asked. "How it became like this? It wasn't Arachnophobia."

I stopped again. Annoying or not, he seemed to know what he was talking about for once. He still talks as I come back to him.

"Arachnophobia was successfully taken down by the DWMA. The kishin too. Maka punched him to death in an underwhelming ending." I don't know where he got it from, but Excalibur drank some tea.

"If they were defeated, then how did this happen?"

"Fool! It was you!"

"Me? Why would I destroy the city and bring in these witches?"

"Fool! I'll tell you why. It's because everything you loved died."

He was losing credibility in my eyes, but it was better than nothing. "How did that happen?"

The sword was holding a mirror suddenly, which he put in my hand left hand. I tried not to focus on my sudden imbalance and listen to Excalibur. "First to go was your Father. Unlike when you fought the kishin, the lines of sanzu connected properly."

It felt like my soul got stolen from me when he said that. I know what he's talking about; Dad has told me that only one true grim reaper can exist at once. I moved the mirror in front of me and started at my completed lines in horror. I killed my Father. That's why Death City is in pieces. It's because I killed its protector.

I guess my grip loosened, because the next thing I know, the mirror cashed on the floor, breaking my thought and bringing me back to my senses. "If I'm matured, then I could have stopped this."

"Fool!" Helpful or not, he was incredibly hard to listen to. For multiple reasons. "Of course you could. You did for decades. Next was Tsubaki. She got cancer. Black Star was reckless and grief-struck, which led him to lose his soul to a kishin."

I crouched to be closer to his eye level. "Wait, this isn't-"

"Fool! Don't interrupt! It's rude," he interrupted. Excalibur cleared his throat and continued. "It took a while but both Liz and Patty got Alzheimer's. It's hereditary, you know. Next Soul had a stroke, and finally, Maka just died of old age. Everybody else you knew also died one way or another, but you lived. So did I. Two immortals living in a mortal world. A tragic tale really. You thought so. Sad over the loss of everything you ever loved, you vowed to not make any more friends. You also never had a child, saying how you didn't want someone you would love to go through the same thing as you did. Needless to say, that was the wrong move. Your soul became incompatible with any weapon, except mine of course. Without a young reaper or a weapon, your powers were heavily underutilized, so the witches overpowered you and your school, destroying your father's city centuries after his death.

"So in short," Excalibur pointed his cane at me. "You single-handedly did this."

Black blotches started fading into my sight as things started becoming unfocused. "No, this can't be right. This can't be the future. It can't…"

Things were becoming so distorted that I could barely see Excalibur shrug. His voice was muffled, but I could still mostly make it out. "Who knows," he said, "Maybe the future isn't set in stone. But then again, maybe it is."

"How do I fix it?"

This time, all I could hear was an even fainter voice saying "Kid". Everything was black at this point.

"Can I fix this?"

I waited for his answer, but all I got was someone saying "hey Kid." It was louder than before, so I could tell it wasn't Excalibur's voice. I didn't bother to guess who it was. I was too busy thinking about what Excalibur was saying to focus on that. Surely I won't let the city become the thing I saw. I can't let that happen. Excalibur has to be lying, or he's the fool that doesn't know what he's talking about. Then again, I know that eventually, when I'm old enough, it would kill Father. Chances are that I will definitely outlive all of my friends. Can that really be what the future holds for me? Lonely seclusion and destruction?

"Kid, open your eyes." The voice was clear now. It was Steins. I guess the vision of the future was over. I open my eyes to see the doctor's legs. When I crouched for Excalibur, I must have done that in reality. As my senses come back from the vision, I can feel that my hands were grabbing my head. I never did that in the future, so how things translated into reality was a mystery to me. I removed my hands from my head and stood up. The other meisters looked groggy as most of them were groaning and rubbing their eyes. They must have all woken up too.

Stein was twisting his screw. "You seemed to be very upset. What did you see?" His voice was very serious and emotionless. His glasses were glistening, so I didn't get any emotion from his eyes either. I stared at him, practically unable to speak. What would he think when I tell him that I saw nothing related to arachnophobia. The whole point of me coming here was useless. I was a waste of the rare future seeing air. He'll think that, won't he? I'm ruining things now, so I can't tell him how I ruin everything long after he dies too. I could guess what he'll think. He'll tell Father, and Father will regret ever making me. I don't blame him. I'm a failure of a grim reaper and a son that will plunge everything he's worked for into a corpse of itself. I'd regret making me too. I'm a failure.

"Kid, what did you see?" he asked again. His tone was very stern. I'm just wasting his time.

"I-I-, um, I- saw…" It was hard to talk like I was still in a trance. Or like something was strangling me. It was getting hard to breath too, but I just kept talking and kept stumbling through my words. "I saw Excalibur. He-he said that, um, that Arachnophobia defeated- was defeated- by- by us."

"Is that really all you saw?"

"A-and he said the Kishin too."

Stein put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. After inhaling its smoke, he blew it back out. "So that's all the information that you got? Excalibur telling you that the DWMA wins against Aracniphobia and the kishin?"

I don't answer. I just stare at him.

"Excalibur isn't too reliable, but that's nice to know. It'll give some hope. You can leave now." Stein moved on to the next meister, which happened to be Black Star. He was talking like he just got woken up in the middle of the night, which I guess was a lot different than how I was acting. Some of the other meisters were looking at me. Was it because they were noting how my reaper physiology took the gas differently than them, or was it because they know how worthless I am. How I'm going to doom their great-grandchildren.

I could also see Liz and Patty staring at me through the window. Are they judging me too? No, they're just waiting for me to leave and go home with them. I don't want to disappoint more than I already have, so I left.

"You looked pretty scared in there. Are you okay?" Liz asked as soon as I opened the door. I nodded, avoiding eye contact. I started walking home, and they follow me.

"You're acting kinda funny though," Patty says.

"I-it must be the stuff we breathed messing with my mind," I say. I don't know if that was a lie or not. It wasn't the gas, it was the future that it showed me. The inevitable future. But is it inevitable?

I walk to the exit, desperate to leave. Looking around, I see the fractured walls and cracked floors that will come, instead of the clean ones that are there currently. I could practically feel the ground shake as a witch attacks outside. My walking slowed apparently because Liz and Patty were now in front of me. I look at them and all I could think is that they're going to die. I'll watch them die. They might not even remember me, but I'll be there as they take their last breaths. Unless if I'm not. What if it's too much for me and I leave them to die alone. That's worse. That's so much worse. Either way, they're going to age. Their bodies will wrinkle and grow frail while mine will only grow in power. Why me? Why did I get eternal life? I don't deserve it. Why can't I just give my life to someone who deserves it?

"Are you sure you're okay?" Liz asked.

I want to lie, to say everything's fine, but I didn't say anything. It was like talking to a dead person. Being a god of death, it should be easier than this. Why can't I just talk to them like before? I've always known that I'd outlive everyone I know, it was told me a while back, but I've just never put much thought to it. Father went through the same thing. He didn't plunge the world into chaos as I will. I'm too weak. I'm just too pathetic. I should die so my father doesn't have to. Then I don't have to watch my friends die either.

No, I can't. That'll be so selfish, forcing my friends to go through what I fear going through. I don't know what to do.

"Kid?" Patty said. She sounded more concerned than I've heard her in quite some time. She wasn't walking anymore. Neither was Liz. I probably stopped too, but I don't know for sure. It was like I couldn't feel anything.

I looked between my weapons, the two walking corpses. They started getting farther away without moving their legs. Was I walking backward? I don't know. "I-I have to go," I managed to say. I turned around and started walking further into the school. The school that was practically falling apart around me. I close my eyes, not bearing to see the dejected walls of the future anymore. I could maneuver the halls without sight anyway since I spent nearly every day of my childhood here.

That made me feel worse. A school I was raised in destroyed because of me. All because of me.

Even if I know where walls are, people aren't as easy to see with closed eyes. I must have been too occupied to use soul perception. I opened my eyes to see who I ran into. It was Maka. Or should I say, another walking corpse that used to be Maka. "Sorry," I mumble and start walking again. She stopped me.

"Wow that future sight really was something, huh? Real abstract. I saw a city walking on legs and running to Arachnophobia's HQ. I wonder what that would mean in real life."

I nodded, hardly listening. I can't stay here in this collapsing building filled with the dead. I need to go to a place where nobody is. Where nobody can die. This must be what Crona feels like, unable to deal with things. I need to get away from my friends. "I have to go." It was the same thing I said to my weapons, hoping it would work the same.

"Go where?"

Go where, that's the question. A place for immortals that never want to see anybody again. It suddenly dawned on me. "Excalibur."

"What?"

I made my skateboard appear beneath me. "Excalibur," I said again. I fly away, using a side exit to not run into Liz and Patty, and continue to my house. I try to ignore it as I pass by the people that were happily walking around like they weren't going to die. Children skipped and laughed, but all I saw was bones. I made it home before my weapons.

I've never packed so fast in my life, mostly because I'd usually be obsessing over the symmetry of it, but I had bigger problems. With a full suitcase in each hand, leaving my room pretty baren, I fly to the Eternal Cave, trudge through the water and ignore the fairies flying around, knowing they'd die too. I sit next to the holy sword, feeling his power was radiating around me. It made me feel worthless, but that wasn't an uncommon feeling anymore. I'd live here now.

There was glowing beside me, so I looked to see the holy sword transformed into his human form. It's only been a few minutes, a half an hour maximum, but he was the first thing I saw since I went to the future that was alive. All I want is life. I've never been so happy to see him. Even when he talked, it didn't ruin my joy.

"Fool! Do I know you?"

I don't know why, but I grabbed him into a hug.

He didn't seem to expect it. "What are you doing? This isn't one of the provisions! I guess I could make it one. 1,001 provisions. Hey, I like the sound of that."

"Excalibur, let's stay together forever. How about that? We'll never have to leave and see the world fall before us. We'll be here, only each other for company, for eternity!"

"That'd be pretty swell."

I stayed with him. I did his provisions. I brought us food from wherever Excalibur desired. It was horrible, honestly. Excalibur was as annoying as ever. I was tempted to use him as a sword to stab my brains out daily, but when I remembered the alternative to Excalibur was watching the brains of everybody I know rot, I stayed in the Eternal Cave. I stayed for years, each day blurring into each other. At some point, it did get better. Apparently I can tell stories too at the five-hour storytelling party, so I told him what I saw in my vision of the future. He said the same things future Excalibur did, saying it would be all my fault, but it was nothing worse than I told myself, so I didn't care. He actually opened up and told me about Arthur's death. Of his past loves too. They all left off in cliffhangers, but it was still something. I told him about my friends as if they were long gone already since they practically were. My new life wasn't paradise, but it was tolerable.

One day, Excalibur and I were drinking tea together when I sensed that a couple of souls were approaching. Liz and Patty's souls. I panicked, never wanting to see their withering bodies ever again. They'll be old. Dying. They were dying from the moment they were born. "Don't tell Liz and Patty I'm here," I say and jump into the water behind Excalibur, mostly submerging myself.

I waited in the gross water that was making everything soggy. It was kind of like torture, but I stayed. "Have you seen Kid? Maka said he might be here," I heard Liz say. At least, I think it was Liz. It's been so long, I've almost forgotten what her voice sounds like.

"Are you Liz and Patty?" Excalibur asked.

They both say yes.

Dread ran throughout my body as I see a familiar white cane point at me. He betrayed me.

"He's right there. Feel free to take him. He's really annoying, always talking about symmetry and crying about the future."

I ignore what Excalibur was saying about me and in a last effort, I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and go all the way into the disgusting water. I can hold my breath for a long time, so I hoped it would be enough. It wasn't. After all of these years, Liz and Patty could still pick me up. I guess I did give them a lot of practice. They dragged me back up to dry land and put me down.

"Kid, what the hell are you doing? You're soaking wet!" Liz said. I was soaking. I hated it. My efforts were useless anyway, just like me.

I kept my eyes and mouth closed.

"Hey Kid, what's going on with you?" Patty asked. She still sounded so young. Regardless, my eyes stayed shut.

Some time passed before Liz yelled "Hey, we're talking to you! Common courtesy is to respond!"

She got me there; I'd hate to be rude. "I'm happy here with Excalibur. Go live the rest of your lives without me. We've been apart this long, please, don't make this harder than it has to be."

"What are you talking about? And why are your eyes closed?" Liz questioned.

"I know you can have a happy life without a meister. You might even be married by now and have kids. Just be great moms for them, I know you can be."

I felt one of them trying to open my eye, my guess is Patty based on soul positions. Fortunately, one of the perks of being a grim reaper is a strong eyelid.

"Kid, how long do you think you've been here?" Liz asked.

"I've been here maybe 20, 30 years. Days are a blur without a calendar. Why?"

Liz's voice suddenly sounded disappointed. "It's been five days."

"No… It's been much longer than that." Patty took advantage of my shock to peel open one eye. The other followed suit on a balance impulse. Surprisingly, my old weapons did look the same age as when I left them. That was until they suddenly looked 100 years older. I closed my eyes again, even harder this time. "Five days, five hundred years, what's the difference?"

"The difference is that in five hundred years we won't be attacking Arachnophobia, but we will be in ten days!" Liz said. "Now's not a good time to be going crazy. How about we open our eyes, hop on your skateboard, and fly home super fast so we can get ready for a giant, dangerous attack."

"But there's so much fire. I can't go back to Death City, not after what I've done to it."

"You can't go back?" asked Patty. Her voice sounded mischievous all of a sudden. "Too bad. Looks like nobody will fix all of those paintings I tilted back home."

"Tilted pictures don't bother me," I said. In reality, it only took a few minutes for me to start flying back home. It bothered me to no end, even though it was pointless. They'd be destroyed like everything else, so why did I care? Liz and Patty seemed to be happy that I was leaving. I was holding them in their weapon forms, but I still couldn't look at them. Their metal looked bent, scratched, and rusted. After making it back home, I fixed the paintings that Patty really did tilt. She and Liz kept trying to get me to look at them as I fixed things, but I didn't.

Maka and Soul came by after a while.

"So you got him back?" Soul asked.

"Yeah, but he's still acting super weird," Liz said.

"Weird how?" asked Maka

"He's acting like we aren't here."

"And he keeps talking about crazy stuff, like the city being on fire," Patty added.

I was close by, making sure that the candles were burning symmetrically. A wall was separating us, but I could feel a pair of eyes land on me. Maka must be looking at my soul. I try not to acknowledge it, since the less attention I pay them the better.

"His soul is completely different than normal," Maka said. Good to know I was right. "It's too small and plain." I suppose that would make sense. My soul is using self-defense so I don't get too close to anyone. Soul resonance and team resonance are a thing of the past. How am I supposed to resonate with souls that I'm practically sending to the afterlife already?

The candles were perfect, I've already checked eight times. The problem was the part of the house I still need to check is only accessible by walking in front of the people I don't want to see. I was just standing there, staring straight ahead at the perfect symmetry before me. It was nice. Unfortunately, my old friends started walking toward me. As I sense their souls growing closer, I still don't move. Maka can see my soul after all, so they'd just follow me.

I looked away from the door they all stood in, not wanting to even see them peripherally. Maka was the only person to leave the doorway and enter the room. "What happens in the future?"

"The DWMA wins against Arachnophobia and the Kishin."

"What else?"

"Excalibur sticks around."

"What did you really see? Tell me everything. Maybe we can help you."

I shake my head. How could she help? She'll always have someone that she can count on outliving her. There'll always be someone younger, but after a point, my age will stagnate. There'll never be a person that will remain younger, unless if I have a child, but why would I do that? I'd be torturing them with their existence. "Maybe you can't."

"It wouldn't hurt to try, would it? Whatever happens, whether it's the end of the world or not, we want to know what you saw. I know you saw something."

Would it hurt to try? I looked to Maka. Her hair was pure white and stringy. The smooth face I remember her having now looked gray and wrinkled beyond recognition. She looked as if the slightest blow of wind would knock her over forever. Seconds away from death, all four of them were. It was near impossible to look at; my eyes closed immediately. It would hurt to try. I could tell them what they look like, but then they'd stay with me to reassure that they're still young. They'd feel sorry for me.

What I need is for them to forget about me. That way, when I make sure dad never loses his throne they won't be sad; they'll rejoice. Everyone would win. I know that they won't forget easily, but that's the only chance the future has.

"Let it go," I said. "It doesn't matter. Nothing matters."

"It clearly matters to you."

"But it shouldn't. And you shouldn't be here. Don't you need to practice for the upcoming attack?"

Maka's worried soul suddenly sparked with anger, as well as her tone. "You hypocrite! You should be out there training too! We can't do this without you!"

"That's not true because then you couldn't do it with me either." I held my hands out as I always do to hold Liz and Patty. I couldn't see what they were doing, but it took a couple of silent seconds before I felt them in my hands. Pointing at the candles in front of me, I pulled their triggers. The two most pathetic shot noises in existence came from them. I could only guess they looked the same, especially since I could still feel the heat of the candles, not moved in the slightest.

"What happened to your bullets?" Soul asked. I couldn't tell who that question was directed toward, but Liz and Patty weren't answering.

"They shoot compressed wavelengths of their meisters' soul. Liz, Patty, and I aren't compatible anymore so they can't use my soul for ammunition."

"But we were just used a week ago, and it worked great," Patty said.

"Things change, sometimes for the worse. I'm just trying to make it change for the better." I hold my palms up and open for Liz and Patty to transform out of them, but they don't.

"How the hell is this a change for the better?" Liz asked harshly.

"You have to think long term. Sure, it's slightly inconvenient for our battle against Arachnophobia, but 1,000, 2,000 years in the future it might fix everything. You can get out of weapon form now."

"We'll transform when you open your eyes."

Maka's soul seemed to step closer to me. "Did you see 2,000 years into the future? But the gas should never have gone that far..."

"Even if he did, why would it matter? We wouldn't be alive," Soul said.

Having heard it out loud from someone who's not Excalibur made me feel sick. I closed my eyes harder and placed Liz and Patty on the floor, then started walking out, the doorway no longer covered by four people. "With that logic, why would anything matter? The end's inevitable."

Nobody followed me, which I guess was fortunate. Maka and Soul left, and at points my weapons sometimes watched me silently, but I still never looked at them. The rest of the house, eventually, was thoroughly checked and fixed. Ends up that it was well into the night when I finished.

The next day, the city was still on fire. Liz and Patty still looked like they lived six feet under. We still went to school, despite it being fairly useless. Stein didn't ask many questions. He sent me to Dad's office pretty fast really.

Father, too, was in shambles. His mask was broken and chipping with the cloak under being a torn mess. Words came out of him, but it was muffed beyond comprehension. Around us, the dead death weapons are busy at work, also making ununderstandable noises. At least I could look at them for fair amounts of time. I guess adults are easier to look at since I expect to outlive them regardless. Still, me trying to focus on what my father was saying was near impossible. An overwhelming amount of white noise drowned out all other sounds. Only my own thoughts could penetrate its monotone screams. My own guilt and regrets over something that hadn't even happened yet.

"Kid, what's wrong?" I could hear my father say. His voice was filled with so much concern that it made the noise even louder. So much care was in each word; care that I don't deserve. I'll essentially become his murderer in due time, and I'll even ruin everything he's worked so hard to build.

I look down and close my eyes. It silenced the sound, making the frantically busy death weapons hearable. A war really was coming, and it dominated everybody's minds, but what's the point? It doesn't matter when the city gets destroyed since nothing would change. It'll just be someone's problem until it isn't, then it becomes the children's. Generation after generation the cycle would repeat while I stare down, watching it all with the golden eyes of an unqualified god. If the cycle started this year or the next, it wouldn't make a difference. One generation's former peace can't help with a new one's war. They're already dead anyway.

"Lord Death, I know this is a bad time, but-" Spirit started to say. Worry littered his voice, but unlike most people recently, it wasn't for me. To him, at this moment I was irrelevant, and that's how it should be. If there's any hope for this city, I need to fall into obscurity as soon as possible.

I started walking toward the doors. "It's not a bad time. I'm fine, I just want to be alone right now."

I couldn't see my father's face, but his voice sounded slightly skeptical. "Okay, but I'm always here for you Kiddo."

"Thanks dad. I know."

I left his office and started heading back to Stein's class, but I knew he would just send me away again. Besides, I don't want to be surrounded by so many people. So many ghosts.

In the empty hall, a door to the balcony caught my now open eyes. I walk out and the sun above laughs as the town below is being consumed by flames and destruction. Faceless witches fly all around, just like before. A city, something that's supposed to remain for eternity, no longer standing as it once did. Still, it didn't seem to matter as much. After seeing what is to come for its citizens, whatever shape the actual city's in is irrelevant.

That thought made the inferno subside and the witches vanish. Still, an unorganized mess of rubble and ashes completely covered the ground with no relief until it transitioned into the sands of the surrounding desert. I sat down on the railing, my legs dangling off hundreds of feet from the ground, and I stared into the city... if it could even be called that anymore. The symmetry it once had seemed long since past. It was disgusting. I made it like that. More so, I will make it like that, but time for an immortal is incoherent. In the grand scheme of things, any amount of time is just a drop in the bucket when there's no end. Due to this, I don't know how long I sat, staring out into the distance. It must have been a while since the now drowsy sun was much closer to the horizon than before. I would have been content just sitting there all day in a well of my own thoughts, but Maka came and sat beside me.

Before she could change, I closed my eyes, so I'm not sure if she looked at me or the city in front of us. "You're 15, right?" She asked. I nodded despite not knowing why she was asking. "That's awfully young, especially with your abilities." I sat quietly, listening to her. "Soul and I have been all over the world, so I have no doubt that you have too. You've probably seen the Californian forests with hundreds of thousand-year-old trees then."

I had seen them a while ago before I met Liz and Patty. They were fine. I pictured them: earthy and tall. I could see myself standing there, being insignificant and surrounded by such mighty, ancient life.

"Funny thing about those trees is that a lot of them couldn't have grown without the fires that the forest had." In an instant, those trees burst into flames. My eyes shot open. The city wasn't on fire at least. I made sure the Maka wasn't in my line of sight as she still continued to talk. "The fires cleared space for new life. Sunlight that used to be shaded from saplings beamed through the burned forest. Did you know that the only thing strong enough to open a pine cone is fire? That's how pine trees reproduce: through fire. A whole new life cycle started with a thing that's known for its destruction. Isn't that ironic?"

Like before, I didn't respond. I don't doubt Maka's facts, I know she likes to read books on things like this, but I questioned why she was telling me. It didn't seem relevant.

"So," she said, "in a sense, trees are kind of immortal until they have kids." I see. She probably talked to either Father or Spirit about grim reaper immorality.

"Trees don't have souls," I eventually said. It's true, plants, while alive, have no souls. At least, none that I can see. "If they did, they might not make their seed-filled pinecones. They would know how horrible it was to sit helplessly while everything around it gets destroyed, until they are. A soulful tree might not want that inevitable fate for their sapling."

Maka was quiet for a bit, then I saw her point at the lowering sun. I looked away from her hand as she talked. "The sun. No matter how old the trees may be, the sun is older. It's older than humanity as a whole. Older than the Earth as we know it. It's always been there, looking at the world below. Some may call the sun evil. It leaves deserts barren. After a while, it can give heat stroke and cancer. You can't look at it too long without hurting your eyes. It stays above, laughing, as people struggle below it. That ancient sun is the one that's been setting fires for thousands of years. Of course, not every fire, but a lot of them. Even with all of that, I wouldn't say the sun's evil. Without it, there wouldn't be any trees at all, or any warmth. Life wouldn't exist without it always up there. If the sun just gave up and never rose again, because it was too scared of burning the trees it's gotten to know for centuries, then everything would just end. Saplings would never get a chance to thrive. The old trees would still wilt, as their age catches up to them. The sun hiding, while I see why it would think it might help, would make everything worse."

We both sat there in silence for a while. I wasn't the trees after all, so maybe she doesn't know the full story. Regardless, I hate to think it, but Maka has a point. Worrying about the future could end up ruining the present. Stein did say that what we saw through the smoke wasn't set in stone. Shielding myself off today could mean prosperity down the line, but only if it doesn't bring destruction in the days to come.

I shouldn't be wallowing in fear anymore. What kind of leader would I be if I let a silly thing like this trip me up? The death of old life and the birth of new is the best way of keeping the world balanced after all.

I blink and the town in front of me stands as tall as it should. As tall as it will stand for centuries to come. I won't let the fantasy future that I saw become a reality. Not ever.

I looked at Maka for the first time in what feels like a long time. She was smiling back at me. "You better now?" To her, the answer must have been obvious. I could tell she was looking at my soul. Now, instead of the closed off shell that it was before, it probably burns with the newfound determination to be the best grim reaper that I can be. In any case, I nodded and climbed off of the ledge I was sitting on. Maka accepted the hand I extended for her and joined my side. "Good. Then we should get back to practicing. Nobody knows what the future looks like, but with enough determination, we can be confident in our abilities and win. 'The most reliable way to predict the future is to create it,' Right?"

"Right."

Honestly, a small part of me was scared of winning. It would mean Excalibur was right about one thing, so why not the rest? I quickly erased that doubt. The holy sword, that gas, and anything else doesn't have control over me or my future anymore. Nothing does.

I'll take a page out of Black Star's book and live in the moment, from this moment on.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note: I don't know how to end stories. Regardless, review your thoughts! I'd love to hear them, good or bad. This is one of the more serious things I've written and I'm curious about how well I did in your eyes. And this is a one and done story, but I have a few other finished Soul Eater fanfictions if you want more, but I haven't posted them here yet. Thanks for reading (and hopefully commenting), I hope you liked it!


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